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Footprints Tlirougli Nature to the 
Supernatural. 



/ BY 

ADAM MILLER, M.D. Ph.D. 



CHICAGO: 

Published by the Western Methodist Book Concern 

for the Author. 

1899. 



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PREFACE. 



The writer of the following pages, now in 
the 90th year of his age, has studied with 
care the so-called ''achievements of sci- 
ence " on the subjects referred to. Here he 
has found many conflicting theories pub- 
lished as scientific discoveries which cannot 
be regarded as such from a want of facts to 
sustain them. Mathematical astronomy has 
made many valuable scientific discoveries, 
while speculations in solar physics have 
often been supported by guessing at things, 
and widely different theories have been pub- 
lished to support some favorite theory in 
reference to the origin and destiny of matter 
and mind, and their relations to a super- 
natural power. From this source we have 
Materialism, Atheism, Pantheism, atheistic 
evolution, etc. 

I have spoken plainly against some theo- 



4 PREFACE. 

ries that are generally recognized as scien- 
tific, and demonstrated that they are not. 
Should any object to these statements, they 
are respectfully requested not to refer to the 
infirmities of old age. The writer is better 
prepared to defend his views now than he 
was in his younger years, and fears no criti- 
cism. A. M. 



FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 
TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 



THE ULTIMATE POWER* 

If nature does not produce itself, and 
does not, by an inherent and independent 
force, establish her own laws, and put the 
whole system in operation, then we shall be 
forced to the conclusion that there is a 
power above nature which existed before 
nature moved on in her present order and 
harmony. This power must be regarded as 
supernatural, because it is above nature, and 
yet there is a close relation between nature 
and the supernatural. The former is an off- 
spring from the latter, and that which we 
call nature points with an unmistakable 
hand to the power that existed before, and 
continues to exist above nature, working in 
the realms of matter and spirit through an 
infinite will. This does not imply a suspen- 
sion of the laws of nature. It only assumes 
a power to control the course of nature, and 
to direct these working forces into new and 



6 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

different channels, and to produce effects 
that the laws of nature could not accom- 
plish without this controlling power. This 
leads to the conclusion that all natural 
forces have their origin in this power, and 
are not to be regarded as eternal, uncon- 
scious energies that never were created and 
can never be destroyed All activities in the 
natural and in the spiritual realms have their 
origin in the Ultimate Power. In this ** we 
live and move and have our being." 

*'As when Ezekiel in a vision saw 
The chariot wheels of the electric law 
Move one within another, 
Like sister and like brother 
In families harmonious dwelling, 
While, rapture every bosom swelling, 
He only saw the outward sign 
Of an infinite presence shine 
Upon a darkened world." 

But here we find ourselves surrounded 
with mysteries above human comprehension. 
The same thing may be said of the most 
profound research of science, and while phi- 
losophers are explaining some things that 
were hidden from past generations, there are 
new mysteries looming up in various direc- 
tions that bid defiance to the widest range of 
human intellect. 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 7 

A distinguished writer of our times says: 
" How far can we advance in any of the 
paths which science has opened to us before 
we find ourselves enveloped in those thick 
mists which, on every side, bound the hori- 
zon of the human intellect?" Here we find 

THE CAUSE OF CONFLICT, 

both in the scientific and in the theological 
realms. When efforts are made to explain 
some of these hidden mysteries, and theories 
are advanced that cannot be demonstrated 
by well-known facts, then guessing is the 
resort; then dogmatic assertions are made 
and the different theories published as scien- 
tific discoveries are founded on conjectures 
which are liable to be overthrown by some- 
one who will guess in another direction. 

It must be admitted, however, that the 
laws of nature are now better understood 
than they were in past generations; yet, with 
all the advancement of science, there are 
many things that remain involved in mys- 
teries above human comprehension, and will 
likely remain so through coming generations. 

In no department of science has there 
been so much confusion and so many con- 
flicting opinions as on the subject of the 



« FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

governing-power of the universe. Here 
we find, figuratively speaking, the clash 
of arms in the field of strife to the extent 
that terms, as weapons of warfare, have been 
changed, and the word power is changed for 
the words energy and force. The idea of a 
supreme power is generally rejected in the 
discussion of subjects in physical science. It 
is now energy and force, or the conservation 
of energies. These different modes of ex- 
pressing ideas are not the result of a slight 
variation from old habits of thought, but 
they result from a radical change in theories 
in reference to the course of nature and the 
cause of natural phenomena. 

An effort is now being made by many of 
the scientists of our times to account for the 
course of nature by the conservation of ener- 
gies and the rejection of a supernatural 
power. Many of the theologians are stand- 
ing firm in the defense of the supernatural, 
while some are yielding to the demands of 
materialistic views. 

Science refuses to recognize the control- 
ling influence of a supernatural power, be- 
cause it is above human comprehension; but 
the endless discussion in reference to the so- 
called eternal energies show that this is also 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 9 

above human comprehension. Manifesta- 
tions of this hidden power have been wit- 
nessed by all nations, and efforts have been 
made to comprehend and explain its mys- 
teries; but here human thoughts must linger 
in the outer court of the temple of nature 
and exclaim with the old patriarch: ** Lo 
these are parts of his works; but the thunder 
of his power who can understand?" 

After all the confusion and the conflicting 
opinions of the materialistic philosophy 
there are some who are endeavoring to build 
their theological creed upon this uncertain 
foundation. The conservation of energies is 
assumed to be a great truth in science, and 
they distort the teachings of the Bible in 
every direction to bring it into harmony 
with this theory. We have a striking illus- 
tration of this in an article in the Biblio- 
theka Sacra, published at Oberlin, Ohio, 
April, 1898. The subject is: 

*' CREATION; OR, THE TRANSMUTATION 
OF ENERGY/' 

The writer, as usual in these departures 
from the old faith, professes to accept the 
Bible account of creation, but when he states 
his theory there is very little of the old 



10 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

Bible teaching found in it. It is in harmony 
with modern materialism. 

In reference to the origin of things he says: 
** Because there is something /e^ze^, there must 
have been something in existence forever, 
and according to the accepted scientific laws 
of the conservation of forces and the inde- 
structibility of matter, there was from all 
eternity the equivalents of the present uni- 
verse." Here he recognizes the materialistic 
theory of the eternity of matter and an eter- 
nal force governing this eternal matter. 
This excludes the idea of an independent 
creating power and ruler of the universe. 
He further says: "Creation begins by the 
transmutation of pure force or energy, which 
is infinitely subtile, into that which is finitely 
so; that is, crossing the bridge between spirit 
and matter where the chasm, if chasm there 
be, is the narrowest." His object is to show 
that this eternal matter is taken possession 
of by an eternal force, and here he shows his 
pantheism when he says: ''Then, seized 
with a sudden impulse of intelligence, these 
parts of matter, thus made intelligent by 
their union with the eternal force, said to 
each other: * Let us mend our ways and 
move in regular paths.' " This matter mov- 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. II 

ing as star dust through infinite space in the 
past eternity thus commenced to form itself 
into an orderly arrangement of moving and 
shining worlds. 

This theory of the origin of the order and 
harmony of the universe shows the ridicu- 
lous conclusions often arrived at by those 
who reject the supernatural in the work of 
creation and in the government of the uni- 
versal empire of material forms. Such at- 
tempts to put nature to the front and make 
her sway her scepter over the natural and 
spiritual world is causing confusion in scien- 
tific and theological realms. This guessing 
in the name of science has also made great 
confusion in the minds of many who are 
earnestly seeking for truth in reference to 
these interesting questions. 

There is another subject that demands our 
attention and on which we have strong evi- 
dence of mistaken conclusions. This is the 

TEMPERATURE OF THE SUN 

and interplanetary space. Astronomers have 
made what they claim to be scientific calcu- 
lations on this subject, and in their estimates 
of solar heat they are thousands and tens of 
thousands of degrees apart. No two of them 



12 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

have arrived at the same conclusion. And 
why not? Simply because they made their 
mistake in the starting-point, by assuming 
that the sun is a burning fire consuming cos- 
mical matter, and they cannot find where the 
supply of fuel is to come from to keep up 
this enormous combustion for thousands of 
years with an unvarying regularity. Neither 
can they tell how hot the sun must be to 
radiate heat sufficient to warm the planets, 
many millions of miles away, through space 
where the thermometer is 200^ below zero. 

Professor Tyndall, in his **Heat a Mode of 
Motion,'' (p. 143) says: "The heat given off 
by the sun per hour, is equal to that which 
would be generated by the combustion of a 
layer of coal, ten feet thick, entirely sur- 
rounding the sun; hence the heat emitted in 
one year is equal to that which would be 
produced by the combustion of a layer of 
coal seventeen miles in thickness.'' 

These, and similar statements by leading 
writers on this subject, are frequently quoted 
as scientific discoveries, while there is no sci- 
entific truth connected with them. There 
are even no good grounds for guessing that 
the sun is a burning fire consuming material 
substances. 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 1 3 

There are equally strong objections to the 
theory that the sun is producing his heat by 
shrinking. 

These extravagant and conflicting state- 
ments are published in the interest of the 
materialistic philosophy and in opposition to 
the power which is manifested in the realms 
of nature everywhere. 

In a book recently published by one of the 
leading astronomers of our times, and a 
teacher of astronomy in one of our great 
universities, under the title of "Elements of 
Descriptive Astronomy," we have additional 
evidence of the folly of guessing when 
science and reason should be our guide. He 
says: **As the sun is constantly radiating its 
heat away with boundless prodigality, it is 
reasonable to suppose th^t the stars, which 
are but distant suns, are doing likewise. We 
know of no way in which the expenditure is 
to be repaid. We can look forward to the 
time when the sun will become a cold cinder, 
feeling its way by the starlight through the 
darkness of infinite space.'' ** But will there 
be starlight then ? Many stars are larger and 
hotter than the sun, and, though much 
diminished in radiance, will yet be able to 
shed a kindly, though feeble light, upon his 



14 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

pathway. But the time will come when even 
the brightest and the hottest, having radiated 
its heat away, will roll a cold course among 
its dead compeers. Such is the gloomy 
teaching of our philosophy." 

I have made this quotation from one of 
our standard works on astronomy to show 
the horrible picture there presented to us of 
beautiful nature by scientists who look at her 
as under the merciless control of exhausted 
energies, or of deaf and dumb and blind 
force which, these same writers tell us 
** never was created and can never be de- 
stroyed." 

These conflicting statements have no 
claims to be classed as science. They are 
nothing more than erroneous and horrifying 
conclusions arrived at by those who reject 
the supernatural power of the infinite Crea- 
tor and then seek to find a machinery in na- 
ture that will run itself; and in this they have 
distinguished themselves by their failure, 
more than by their success. 

A NEW LAW REJECTED* 

To show that these untenable theories are 
not old-time fables, I call attention to the 
announcement of a theory published in the 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. I 5 

May number of McCLures Magazine, 1899. 
The writer calls this *'A new law by the 
astronomer, Dr. T. G. G. See/' Of this the 
writer says: **The discovery of this law is 
hardly second in profound import to the 
law of gravitation." But in attempting to 
explain the law of gravitation he makes a 
mistake when he says: ''Newton's law of 
governing the attraction of gravitation is the 
one universal natural law, so far as known 
to man." He then says: "It applies to all 
bodies, gaseous, liquid and solid, whether 
cold or hot. Everything falls." This state- 
ment of the law of gravitation is not true. 
There is a law of magnetic repulsion as well 
as attraction, and here, as I have stated in 
another place, is where we find the great 
balancing power of the universe directed by 
an Infinite Power. Again, millions of tons 
of water rise from the earth and ocean in 
opposition to the laws of gravitation and 
form themselves into clouds and return in 
showers of rain, while vapors, steam and 
smoke are also constantly ascending from 
the earth. 

The writer says: "Dr. See's law is based 
on the well-known principle that gas, when 
compressed, gives out heat; compress the 



l6 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

air in a bicycle pump, and the pump grows 
warm under the hand." From this he 
argues that a gaseous star or sun compresses 
itself and produces heat. 

But we will look at this gas-pressing far- 
ther on. He says: "At one time the sun's 
mass was so immense that it covered the 
entire space now occupied by the solar sys- 
tem.'' He adds: ''This was the original 
condition of our solar system and all other 
stellar systems — a formless swarm of icy 
masses floating like some great flock of 
birds in blue space." This is in direct opposi- 
tion to the old theory that the star dust 
from which worlds were made was extremely 
hot and had to be cooled off before they 
could be formed into revolving globes. 

He says: ''The sun is still a gaseous 
body, and it therefore conforms to the new 
law." "We know that it is shrinking from 
year to year, and is, therefore, growing 
gradually hotter." Again he says: "We 
know that all our planets are doomed to 
death and cold.... The law of gravitation 
continuing its slow work of destruction." 

All these discoveries are based upon the 
production of heat by gas pressure by com- 
pressing the air as with a bicycle pump. 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 1 7 

After reading this theory I went to a bicycle 
repairing shop in the city of Chicago on the 
9th of June, 1899. During my stay at this 
shop a great number of bicycle riders came 
to have their wheels pumped full of gas. I 
carefully examined the pump, but found no 
heat in it, although it was a warm summer 
day. This observation led me to the fol- 
lowing discovery: If we had a bicycle with 
wheels as large as the circumference of the 
moon and the strength of all the men that 
ever lived on this earth could be put into 
one big man, and had a pump of suitable 
dimensions, this mighty man could not pro- 
duce heat enough to warm surrounding space 
for the distance of ten miles. 

But I shall be told that this is not a scien- 
tific theory. Well, it has as much science to 
support it as Dr. See's **new law,'' that the 
sun and planets are gas bubbles and the law of 
gravitation is pumping away at them and will 
finally bring them to death and destruction. 

Dr. See, however, closes his article by 
saying: ''But we cannot say that this is 
really the end, for no man knows, and man's 
mind is not big enough even to imagine how 
many systems, one within the other, make 
up God's creation." 



l8 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

This last sentence is one of the wisest 
things he has said. With the limitations 
upon our knowledge, we cannot explain nor 
comprehend the mysteries of nature. Any 
attempt to do so by an appeal to natural 
forces or energies must always prove a 
failure and lead to erroneous conclusions. 
But we can see manifestations of a hidden 
power, with evidences of intelligerice and 
design in the realms of nature. From this 
we can make mathematical calculations of 
time and periods of the revolution of celes- 
tial bodies without the constant fear of 
nature's forces becoming exhausted. The 
Author of the laws of nature has a power 
to control these laws according to His will, 
while materialistic philosophers claim that 
the uncreated energies of nature are suffi- 
cient to produce all natural phenomena. 

Here we find the cause of all the confu- 
sion and conflicting statements of different 
writers on this subject. In their search for 
a power to account for the course of nature 
they have settled down on the conservation 
of energies and proclaimed this as one of 
the greatest scientific discoveries of our 
times. But it is now confessed by Herbert 
Spencer that this cannot be demonstrated 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. I9 

as a truth in science by an appeal to the 
ordinary course of nature; yet he considers 
it a truth of so much importance that it 
should be received without demonstration. 
Assertions that this is a great truth in sci- 
ence are numerous and strong, but positive 
demonstration of its truth cannot be made. 
There have been many pretended demon- 
strations by chemical manipulations, by 
which it is claimed that one force has pro- 
duced its equivalent of force in another 
direction. But let these seekers after an 
inherent power in nature to move this grand 
system from lower to higher conditions 
walk out from their laboratories into the 
extended fields of nature, and look at her 
moving and shining worlds; they will be 
compelled to acknowledge that there must 
be a hidden power over nature that they 
have failed to recognize, while they confess 
that the inexorable laws of mechanics show 
that these energies will finally be exhausted 
and come to an inglorious end, if left with- 
out a power to sustain them, and hence the 
horrible prediction of nature's final doom 
above referred to. 

There is a strong line of contradiction 
running through this theory which will stand 



20 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

opposed to any efforts to banish supernatu- 
ralism from thoughtful minds. To show the 
inconsistency of these efforts we need only 
look at the statements of some prominent 
writers on this subject. Professor Tyndall 
says: **To create or annihilate energies is as 
impossible as to create matter, and all the 
phenomena of the material universe consists 
in the transformation of energies. This 
principle here enunciated is called the law 
of the conservation of energies/' 

It is also asserted that every form of en- 
ergy, or force, once in action will produce 
another and equal amount of force in some 
other direction. These statements express 
the materialistic philosophy on this subject. 
Many volumes have been written in defense 
of this atheistic conception, but all efforts to 
demonstrate it a truth in science have been 
a failure. The most rational views we can 
take of this subject direct us along the path- 
way that leads through nature to the hidden 
power above nature, that existed before the 
so-called energies of nature. 

Professor Shaller of the Harvard Univer- 
sity, in his ** Interpretation of Nature,'' (p. 45) 
says: **The clearest outcome of the debate 
between extreme supernaturalists and natu- 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 21 

ralists is that science still lives and has won 
a curiously strong place among men/' 

To this we may reply that true and dem- 
onstrated science will continue to live and 
advance as new truths are discovered in the 
vast fields of nature; but such have been the 
different and conflicting statements by the 
advocates of this branch of science that 
honest minds have turned away from these 
misinterpretations of nature with a dissatis- 
faction bordering on disgust; and there is an 
increasing demand for demonstrated facts. 

The attempt to account for natural phe- 
nomena without an intelligent controlling 
power should awaken a desire in thoughtful 
minds to know something more about this 
great first cause. 

OBJECTION TO THEORIES* 

The theory of the conservation of energies, 
as it is interpreted by modern materialistic 
philosophy, has done more in opposition to 
the supernatural than outspoken atheism, be- 
cause it comes under the cloak of science, 
and as such claims a recognition from theo- 
logians, while it seeks to remove from human 
minds all ideas of the supernatural. This 
is the natural tendency of this theory. 



22 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

I will here state distinctly and emphatic- 
ally that I do not object to the theory of the 
constant and harmonious operation of the 
forces of nature by which all her processes 
are carried on; but insist that above these 
there is a hidden power in which all had 
their origin. This power is rejected by the 
advocates of the conservation of energies, 
and they represent nature as a mechanism 
that has produced itself and is running down 
to a final destruction. 

We may safely assert, without the fear of 
successful contradiction, that it is impossible 
to find uniform equivalents following preced- 
ing forces in the laws of gravitation or at- 
traction and repulsion in the motion of 
celestial bodies. Many other instances 
might be mentioned where natural law does 
not work in harmony with this theory. Here 
is the hinge on which swings the argument 
between atheism and theism: from nature's 
destruction by exhausted force to nature's 
progress through a coming eternity. 

One great difficulty in the way of the 
equivalents of succeeding forces is to find 
where the remnants have gone and what 
they are doing in other directions, when 
they are not manifested as parts of some 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 23 

preceding force. There is only a very small 
part of the energy radiated from the sun 
that strikes the planets of our solar system. 
Where does the greater part go, and what 
is it doing in space? We are told that '* the 
energies of the universe are passing away/' 
and will finally be exhausted. When Her- 
bert Spencer found it impossible to demon- 
strate the equivalents of forces by experi- 
ments, he was asked : ** Why should we make 
experiments to establish it as a scientific 
truth?'' His reply was that these experiments 
were made to find what had become of these 
forces that disappeared without producing 
any effect. In other words, these forces are 
the idols of the materialistic philosophers 
and they should look after these fragments 
of their gods that do not work as their the- 
ory demands. 

There are immense energies working in 
nature that are not produced by the course 
of nature according to this theory, and do 
not produce similar forces, much less equiv- 
alents of force. Take, for instance, the law 
of gravitation, in connection with magnetic 
attraction and repulsion, holding and guid- 
ing worlds like mighty chariots in their rapid 
motion over celestial tramways, without the 



24 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

least variation or delay in their time of de- 
parture or arrival as the years roll on. 
Whence came these mighty energies and 
what effect will they produce in other direc- 
tions in the equivalents of force, and what 
will be the final condition when they are ex- 
hausted? Here the materialistic philosophy 
finds its refuge in silence, and claims that 
we must take this theory without demon- 
stration. 

Efforts are now made to connect this with 
our spiritual relations. Herbert Spencer 
says: ** No idea or feeling arises, save as 
the result of some physical force expended 
in producing it." Does he mean to say 
that the athletic preacher can thrash more 
gospel and religious feeling into his hearers 
than the physically feeble preacher? Again, 
we may ask: Will the same physical forces 
expended on any of the lower animals pro- 
duce the same ideas and feelings that arise 
in the minds of intelligent human beings as 
the result of physical force? 

There are not only manifestations of a 
controlling power in the natural world, but 
the same is manifested in the spiritual 
realms. The spiritual nature is not an out- 
growth from material substances, neither has 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 2$ 

it resulted from lower conditions of animal 
life; but it is the separate result of a pre- 
existing life as the primal cause of all exist- 
ing things in the world of mind and matter. 

The history of nations as well as individ- 
uals gives us a strong proof of a supernatural 
power in controlling human destinies, as well 
as the destinies of nations. 

In reference to the atheistic view of the 
conservation of energies we may ask: Where 
are the energies of the Spanish ships that 
Commodore Dewey sent to the bottom of 
the ocean? Will their forces that were de- 
stroyed show their equivalents by producing 
an equal amount of force in some other 
direction? Herbert Spencer and his follow- 
ers will have a difificult task to find what 
these destroyed vessels and their guns and 
ammunition are doing to show equivalents of 
force in some other region or in their soli- 
tary condition in the depth of the ocean. 

LIMITATIONS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE* 

We may understand some of the laws 
through which the Infinite Power works on 
the worlds of mind and of matter; but even 
here our knowledge is so limited that we 
may regard ourselves as children studying 



26 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

our first lessons, through which we hope to 
progress to a higher degree of knowledge 
and clearer conception of that power which 
manifests itself so wonderfully in the works 
of nature. This power in our language we 
call God. The Hebrews call it Elohim, the 
Greeks call it Theos, and the numerous 
other nations of the earth have their differ- 
ent names and symbols to represent this 
power, although many have erroneous con- 
ceptions of it. To deny the existence of this 
supreme power and to assume that matter 
and force are eternal, and then to admit that 
the forces of nature are waning and will 
finally be exhausted present to us problems 
more mysterious than the postulate of an 
eternal life-producing and life-sustaining 
power. If we deny this power, then the 
question comes up: When and how was 
motion first imparted to matter? What 
gave the first impulse to the supposed eter- 
nally existing forms of matter? What 
directed its course and formed lines and 
spheres and orbits with attractive and pro- 
pelling power to keep revolving bodies in 
regular motion? 

Again we may ask: If life had its origin 
in protoplasm, and matter in nebulae or fire 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 27 

mist, what was before these and how was 
the change produced? If they were eternal, 
why did they not remain eternally the same? 
What disturbing influence brought them out 
of their eternal inertia to motion and con- 
nected them with life? 

These questions are more difficult to 
answer, and are involved in mysteries more 
profound than the recognition of a superna- 
tural power from which all things have 
come. 

We might indulge in speculation in refer- 
ence to some kind of existence inseparable 
from the Divine existence. The term ether 
might convey an idea too near to our con- 
ception of matter to allow it an eternal un- 
created existence, and yet it seems reason- 
able to suppose that there was connected 
with the Infinite Power something from 
which material substances and forms have 
come. This was light. '*In him was light,'' 
and Moses was scientifically correct when 
he mentions the existence of light before 
the creation of the sun. It is useless to 
speculate in reference to this pre-existing 
light, or to ask the question whether it was 
different from the light we have from the 
sun. It is, however, very evident that our 



28 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

sunshine is an electric light, or at least, the 
result of electrical action on the solar orb, 
and the light radiated from the sun is very- 
different from the light produced by the 
combustion of material substances. The 
old idea published in our books on astron- 
omy, that the heat of the sun is kept up 
by a burning fire, must be abandoned. 

The same maybe said of the more modern 
idea that the heat of the sun is kept up by the 
constant shrinking of the solar orb. Light 
from luminous bodies has puzzled the brains 
of philosophers in all ages, and yet it re- 
mains an unexplained mystery. How much 
more mysterious must be that eternal exis- 
tence from which has come all things which 
are known to us through our senses, in the 
material universe. 

The history of creation as recorded in the 
book of Genesis was not intended as a scien- 
tific discussion, but it was more especially 
designed to supply human wants and long- 
ing desires, in reference to man's moral rela- 
tion to the Creator; hence it adapts itself 
to the limited knowledge of the early race 
of mankind. The periods mentioned as 
days may indicate long cycles of ages during 
which the forming process was going on, 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 29 

giving form and endowment to different con- 
ditions of matter. 

If it were possible for us to take a retro- 
spective view of the progress of world-build- 
ing, we would undoubtedly find everything 
progressing in regular order from distinct 
elements, and from these to compounds in 
endless variety, in qualities and forms 
adapted to the wants of the human race. 
Here again we come to that mysterious veil 
which hides these mysteries from our pres- 
ent view. As in the Bible history of our 
race the first Adam received his Eve, so the 
first elements of matter from which a uni- 
verse was to be built, found a mate, and the 
king of matter and the new-found queen 
formed a union from which the countless 
streams commenced to flow without an ebb- 
ing tide, until they ran in millions of chan- 
nels, with the vigor and freshness of youth. 
These streams could no more direct their 
own course than they could originate them- 
selves. The forces that control them result 
from a power above all nature's forces. If 
matter had its origin in an infinite causa- 
tion, then life-animating matter must have 
had a similar origin. The mysterious union 
existing between the vital principle called 



30 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

life and material forms, and the abundant 
provision for the support of life from the 
lowest to the highest conditions, point to 
the work of a supreme and superintending 
power. St. Paul says: ''Every house is 
builded by some man, but he that built all 
things is God." The power that produced 
the material for the building existed in the 
builder from eternity. Time is not taken 
into the account, neither is it essential to our 
argument that we understand the process of 
world-building. The great fact of creation 
is before us, the solid earth is beneath our 
feet, the sun and the stars a part of the time 
apparently above us. The moon keeps its 
appointed course, and all the hosts of heaven 
keep in their orbits and show a controlling 
power. Every thoughtful and intelligent 
being looks at these rolling and moving 
worlds with silent admiration and is im- 
pressed, as by some invisible presence, to 
acknowledge that some great intelligent 
power made these things and put them into 
motion. 

Here we find the foundation of all reli- 
gious w^orship, whether in the rude savage or 
the wild barbarian or the more refined dev- 
otee paying homage at the thousands of 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 3 1 

shrines and altars with prayers and hopes 
that this unseen power might be especially 
interested in behalf of suffering humanity. 
There is a moral sense in which every intel- 
ligent being reaches out the hand of con- 
scious helplessness to this highest power. 

It does not come within the range of our 
investigation to travel back of all historic 
records to find a time v/hen this power alone 
existed. Geology may lay its measuring line 
on rocks and strata of deposits of minerals 
and metais; but far beyond the traces and 
tracks from which geology draws her lessons 
of the past, and before time was measured 
by revolving worlds, there existed the infinite 
word, and ** that Word was God." 

The transformation of matter through a 
creative process may go on through long 
periods. Nature, in some of her dominions, 
may be robed in her coarsest garments, as in 
old chaos, and assume a fearful aspect, and 
for a time spread desolation over the earth. 
The earth itself may grow old as doth a gar- 
ment, and as a vesture it may be folded up 
and be changed by refining fires, but from 
this apparent waste and destruction the earth 
may receive a new and more beautiful form 
adapted to the advanced condition of its in- 



32 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

habitants. That which to us may appear to 
be destruction may only be a forward move- 
ment to a higher condition. The distant 
star may disappear from telescopic view, and 
yet its light may flash out in some other sky 
with increasing splendor, or shining as a cen- 
tral sun it may carry its family of worlds 
through boundless space, where other eyes 
may gaze upon an apparently new-made 
world. Matter itself does not possess the 
power to make these changes, much less 
does it possess the power to make combina- 
tions by which life may be produced. 

This brings us more especially to the ques- 
tion of 

THE ORIGIN OF LIFE* 

How did life first find a union with matter? 
Whence came this vital principle? And, 
where is the mysterious anchor that holds 
the one to the other? Did inert particles of 
matter that had been unconsciously resting 
in their helpless condition for unknown ages, 
say to each other: ''Come, now, let us get 
together and arrange ourselves in different 
forms and be alive, so that some of us can 
fly in the air, some move over the earth, and 
others swim in the water." Such a thing 
would be unthinkable, and yet would be as 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 33 

rational as some modern theories offered in 
the name of science on this subject. 

In the Bible account of creation we are 
told that the earth and the waters brought 
forth beasts, birds and fishes, as well as the 
different vegetables after their kind; but all 
was done by a creative power working 
through different means and instrumentali- 
ties. In the creation of man, ** God breathed 
into him the breath of life, and he became a 
living soul." This gave him, and the whole 
human race, the stamp of immortality, and 
draws a strong line of distinction between 
man and the lower animals. 

The question frequently comes up in the 
minds of the astronomers: ''What will be 
the future and final destiny of the universe?" 
In answer to this question some have 
given us horrible pictures of the final de- 
struction of all systems of worlds. But rea- 
soning from analogy, we are led to different 
conclusions. Whenever new-formed stars 
or planets appear, either as central suns or 
revolving planets scattered like diamonds 
through the vast abyss, there, the analogy 
in nature teaches us, will be new forms of 
living beings, coming and going according 
to physical conditions and moral relations to 



34 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

the supreme power. The human mind must 
be in harmony with the Divine mind in 
order to enjoy these splendid mansions for 
the celestial dwellers. 

From these considerations it appears un- 
reasonable to think that the universe will 
finally become a solitary waste from a de- 
struction of existing worlds. This fear is 
groundless in the presence of an omnipotent 
power which works in every star and every 
grain of sand with perfect skill. 

Progress is the order of nature. All 
forms of life must have their own 

CONDITIONS FOR THE SUPPORT OF LIFE^ 

The life of the present could not have 
existed in the primitive condition of the 
earth. Atmospheric changes, soil, climate, 
and solar influence regulate the existing 
flora and fauna. It is the order of Divine 
Providence that these changes are effected 
to suit the different conditions of life and 
vegetation. 

The unity of matter, as revealed by the 
spectroscope, indicates the unity of origins. 
From every star and every world from 
which light comes to us we have proofs that 
the same elements that are found in our 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 35 

earth are also found in these distant worlds, 
and hence we argue that they were pro- 
duced by the same almighty and all-con- 
trolling power. 

St. Paul, when speaking of creation, says: 
**The things which are made were not made 
of things which do appear.'* We must con- 
clude that 

EVERY GLOBE HAS A MAGNETIC CENTER 

around which the materials are attracted 
that build up these different worlds, and 
outside of a supernatural power we can find 
no answer to the question how these found 
their location in space. That they exist is 
a fact revealed by the latest discoveries in 
electro-magnetism. 

The theory based upon the nebular 
hypothesis in the formation of worlds can- 
not be reconciled with the laws of gravita- 
tion as published by Newtqn. The la\vs of 
attraction and repulsion are the hidden 
forces through which the Infinite Power 
works on material nature; on this her variety 
and harmony depends. We see this in the 
works of nature everywhere. In every tree 
and leaf and blade of grass and flowering 
plant there are indications of a pulling and 



36 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

a repelling power. The planet's orbit is an 
ellipse; so are all vegetable growths, some 
more and some less. Every form of matter 
gives evidence of this repelling and attract- 
ing force. Nature wears her garments of 
many forms as well as many colors. She 
excites our admiration in her variety as well 
as in her harmony. Her courses do not all 
run in the same direction. There is a com- 
ing and a going, a drawing and a pushing, 
an expansion and a contraction, a rising and 
a falling; but not by accident or chance 
movements of forces, but by the operation 
of the laws established by an Omnipotent 
Power. 

Again, the planets may move each other 
within certain limits by mutual attraction 
and repulsion; but the word is: **Thus far 
shalt thou go and no farther.'' The dis- 
turbing influence of Neptune on Uranus put 
astronomers on his track and they found him 
in the regions of space where this disturb- 
ance indicated his presence. If there were 
no fixed boundary lines and no supreme 
power to guide them in their course, then 
these revolving bodies would rush to one 
common center, or apart into the depths of 
space in wild confusion. 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 37 

Modern materialistic science looks at the 
vast system of nature as a wound-up clock, 
and when the deaf and dumb energies that 
raise the weights of the clock are exhausted 
and the mechanism has run down to its low- 
est level, they can find no power in the uni- 
verse to put it into motion again. It is sad 
to think that these atheistic views are grad- 
ually working their way into theological 
thought under the claim of scientific discov- 
eries, which is a false and unjust claim. 

Nature only proclaims herself the servant 
of the supernatural power and invites us to 
walk out into her temples and archways to 
see the manifestations of the infinite power, 
working everywhere and urging all forms to 
a higher destiny. 

•* The heavens declare the glory of God, 
and the firmament shovveth his handiwork." 
But how small a part of his works are known 
even to themost advanced student of nature. 
The measuring line which astronomers have 
thrown over the material universe finds no 
end. The plummet line thrown into the 
depths of space finds no bottom. The elec- 
tric ocean on which suns and planets move 
is without a shore. Yet the darkest corner 
of the most distant world we can imagine is 



38 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

subject to the same laws that govern the 
most resplendent regions of boundless space. 

So far as our physical form is concerned, 
in its magnitude and as a mere physical 
structure, we are but atoms on a distant 
shore. But mind in man links him with the 
infinite mind and gives him a pledge of im- 
mortality. Everything in the universe cen- 
ters in this creative power. ''AH the hosts 
of heaven were created by the breath of his 
mouthi" Natuie only works out the pur- 
poses of the infinite mind, and the human 
mind, in its efforts to progress in knowledge 
receives favorable impressions from the 
Divine. In this we do not claim an infalli- 
ble inspiration; but an illumination that may 
come to a longing soul anxiously seeking 
and praying to know something about the 
great first cause of all things. When we 
think of nature's laws and interpret their 
harmonious operations correctly, we are 
thinking along the line of the infinite de- 
signs, and next to the teachings of the in- 
spired Word these thoughts will kindle a 
spirit of adoration that will lift our spiritual 
natures far above many of the small things 
of the present life. 

We cannot limit creative energy within 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 39 

the boundaries of organic and material forms. 
The invisible, from which the visible came, 
extends beyond all material forms. This 
gives us an assurance that the stores of na- 
ture will never be exhausted. 

Creation, like a new-born infant, is held in 
the arms of the father's love. It feels the 
throb of one great heart, which pulsates 
through every form of existence. Human 
thought, instead of being bewildered, will 
find rest in contemplating the vastness of 
creation, knowing that this great powder will 
do all things well. 

So far as the government of the physical 
universe is concerned, we may safely con- 
clude that all things will ultimate in good at 
last, and worlds that have progressed 
through dark nights of chaos will continue 
to advance to higher conditions as the 
dwellers in these celestial spheres advance 
to a capacity to understand this all-control- 
ling power. It is not unreasonable to sup- 
pose that these dwellers on these immortal 
spheres will be allowed to visit their neigh- 
boring worlds, and there, with new-found 
tongues, join the immortal throng in a grand 
solar orchestra through the eternal ages. 

This view of this subject gives us grander 



40 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

ideas of the future condition of the cos- 
mical universe than the pitiful wailing 
of the materialistic philosophers who can 
see nothing but a final destruction of all 
that is now so strikingly manifested in 
nature. If they can find no power that 
put these worlds in motion, they can see no 
power that can keep them in motion; and as 
they have to guess about the origin of 
things, they must guess about the final des- 
tiny of all things. This is the reason why 
we have so many different opinions on these 
subjects. 

The theory that the sun's light and heat 
are produced by electricity has been ad- 
vanced by others; but in connection with 
the old and untenable theory of a direct 
radiation of heat through cold space. Here 
we find the difficulties under which astrono- 
mers of the past and present have been 
laboring. They cannot tell us the cause of 
the heat necessary to reach the planets, ac- 
cording to the theory of heat radiation; and 
if such an amount of heat is radiated from 
the solar orb in every direction, only a very 
small fraction could reach the planets. 
Then the question comes up. What is this 
heat, radiated so profusely into space, doing 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 4I 

to produce equivalents of force according to 
the atheistic conceptions of the conservation 
of energies? It is impossible to reconcile 
the course of nature, as it is manifested to 
us, with the modern theory of the conserva- 
tion of energies, without admitting a su- 
preme and supernatural power as the primal 
cause of all motion. With this admission of 
a hidden power guided by intelligence, the 
way is clear before us in our efforts to ac- 
count for the phenomena of nature. We 
will not look at the vast system of worlds 
in the universe as an accidental conglomer- 
ation of ice-cold or heated parts of matter, 
for both these conditions are contended for 
by materialistic science. But we can look 
at nature as a great system under the con- 
trolling hand of this infinite power. We 
will not reject the harmonious operation of 
the different forces of nature moving on in 
their appointed course. We will not look 
at suns and sun systems as running down to 
a final destruction from a want of fuel to 
keep up those mighty flames. 

When we look at mechanical structures 
and well-arranged houses for dwelling- 
places, we are forced to admit that mind 
has controlled matter in all these things; so 



42 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

when we look at the vast system of nature 
we should be equally willing to admit that 
there is a controlling mind guiding all things 
in their appointed course. 

Among other strange phenomena we will 
give some more attention to the subject of 
heat. We can only deal with it as a condi- 
tion or mode of motion and not as a sub- 
stantial entity, and its existence depends on 
chemical or mechanical action, and in the 
absence of these there can be no heat. It is 
discontinued with the absence of the pro- 
ducing cause. It cannot possibly pass 
through cold space and remain the same as 
when produced; neither can it reproduce 
itself without a reproducing cause. 

The two great difficulties that present 
themselves in the way of the old and gener- 
ally received theory of solar heat are first to 
find how this uniform heat can be kept up 
for thousands of years; and secondly, how 
heat can pass ninety-two millions of miles 
of cold space and then warm our earth. 
With all the experiments that science can 
make, it cannot find any process by v/hich 
heat, in any form or condition, can pass any 
considerable distance through cold space 
and remain the same; neither can any pro- 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 43 

cess be found to restore lost heat to its first 
condition, without the action that first 
produced it. The idea that some of the 
sun's rays are heat rays and some are light 
rays, is a fanciful speculation without a 
demonstration of its truth. The same 
may be said in reference to the physi- 
cal condition of the sun, and the different 
theories in reference to the producing cause 
of the supposed heat existing on the surface 
of the sun. In the different and conflicting 
opinions on these subjects we have a posi- 
tive proof that these are all matters guessed 
at by the different advocates of these con- 
flicting theories. Some of these writers 
have made a frank confession, and one of 
the most distinguished scholars of our times, 
at the close of a ** lecture on the sun," said: 
** We know nothing about it." 

The theory that heat can pass through 
cold space and remain the same has given 
rise to some very strange speculation. 
From this idea Professor Balfour Steward 
of England arrived at the conclusion that 
heat is radiated from the earth into cold 
space again and finds its way to a great 
"waste heap,'' where the heat that is no 
longer wanted on our earth is stored 



44 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

away, and this waste heap, he thinks, will 
finally be big enough to ** burn up the uni- 
verse.'' 

Now I ask, in the name of science, and of 
reason, and common sense, can anything be 
more unreasonable than this? Here we 
have another strong proof of the extrava- 
gant theories writers will invent to account 
for the course of nature when rejecting the 
controlling influence of the hidden power 
that controls the forces of nature. By 
recognizing this power we can move with 
giant steps along the line of reason, and 
build our theories in harmony with infinite 
designs. 

But the question may be asked: How are 
we to find out what these designs are? To 
this we answer: We can find this by a care- 
ful view of nature. We can walk out into 
her extended fields, and see the wants of 
plants and animals, as well as the wants of 
the human race. We also see that these 
wants are supplied in an endless variety of 
ways and through different instrumentalities. 
If we attempt to account for these by re- 
jecting an all-controlling, intelligent power, 
we at once enter into the realms of confusion 
and thick clouds are spread over our mental 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 45 

horizon. Guessing becomes the order of 
things, and the result is what we see in the 
present condition of materialistic science. 
It is confusion and contradiction. On the 
other hand, if we attempt to account for 
these things on supernatural grounds, then 
the way is open and plain before us. 

The first great need of all life on our 
earth is an atmosphere. This we have with 
such arrangement of different gases as to 
make it impossible that it can be the result 
of the unconscious operation of blind energy. 
The same may be said of rain and sunshine, 
so essential to the existence of all vegetable 
and animal life. After considering the differ- 
ent conditions essential for life on our earth, 
there is no one so important as sunshine. 
It stands at the head, and far in advance 
of every other provision for the support of 
all living things, and yet scientists can give 
us no satisfactory answer to any question 
concerning its origin or present condition; 
neither can they tell how the heat is pro- 
duced by which the earth is warmed, with- 
out admitting that there is a Supreme 
Power. 

There is no subject in the range of physi- 
cal science that has given rise to such un- 



46 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

reasonable speculations as we find here. 
Numerous and fruitless efforts have been 
made by astronomers and physicists to ex- 
plain the mysterious phenomena of solar 
radiation by the operation of natural laws 
without admitting the controlling influence 
of a supernatural power. It is almost an 
amusing part of the literature of the past, 
as well as the present time, to see the differ- 
ent theories that have been advanced on 
this subject. 

In addition to what has been already 
stated, we will look at some other theories 
equally untenable and out of harmony with 
scientific facts. 

Professor Balfour Stewart, LL. D., F. R. 
S., professor of Natural Philosophy at the 
Owens College, Manchester, England, in 
his attempt to explain the cause of solar 
heat, says: ''The most probable theory is 
that which vras first worked out by Helm- 
holtz and Thompson, which attributes the 
heat of the sun to the primaeval energy of 
position possessed by its particles. In other 
words, it is supposed that these particles 
originally existed at a great distance from 
each other, and that, being endowed with 
the force of gravitation, they have since 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 47 

gradually come together, while in this pro- 
cess heat has been generated just as it 
would be if a stone were dropped from the 
top of a cliff toward the earth/' 

Professor Stewart, however, aware of the 
difficulties in the way of this theory, and of 
the impossibility of a sufficient supply from 
this source, says: "Doubtless the small 
army of meteors may be falling into our 
luminary, which would by this fall tend to 
augment his heat; yet the supply derived 
from this source must surely be insignifi- 
cant." To supply what is lacking from the 
falling meteors, he turns to the shrinking 
or condensing theory and says: "But if 
the sun is not at present condensing so fast 
as to derive any sufficient heat from this 
process, and if his energy be very sparingly 
recruited from without, it necessarily fol- 
lows that he is in the position of a man 
whose expenditure exceeds his income." 
He is living upon his capital, and is des- 
tined to share the fate of all who act in a 
similar manner. "We must, therefore, con- 
template a future period when he will be 
poorer in energy than he is at present, and a 
period still farther in the future when he 
will altogether cease to shine." 



48 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

It is well known by those who have given 
any attention to this subject that one of the 
fundamental doctrines of the '^conservation 
of energy" is that it never was created and 
can never be destroyed, and now, when it 
serves the purpose for maintaining the athe- 
istic theory of the final destruction of the 
sun, we are told by this same advocate of 
the indestructibility of energy that **the en- 
ergy of the universe is in process of deterio- 
ration." 

These things are mentioned to show the 
difficulties that scientists are laboring under 
in an effort to make the sun a self-con- 
structed body, which will finally become 
bankrupt from a want of capital to carry on 
business in the way of giving light and heat 
to the surrounding planets. 

But the most singular untenable theory in 
connection with this subject is yet to be 
mentioned. Modern science has demon- 
strated that heat is not a thing that pos- 
sesses any material properties. It is only a 
**mode of motion," or the result of motion; 
but now the advocates of the indestructi- 
bility of matter make an effort to show that 
heat cannot be destroyed and that it can be 
stored away for future use. In reference to 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 49 

this Professor Stewart says: ''Universally 
diffused heat forms what we may call the 
great waste-heap of the universe, and this is 
growing larger year by year. At present it 
does not sensibly obtrude itself, but who 
knows that the time may not arrive when 
we shall be practically conscious of its 
growing bigness?" 

In reference to this question the writer of 
this can positively say that such a "waste- 
heap" of heat stored away in some part of 
cold space is an utter impossibility. Can a 
*'mode of motion" be stored away? What 
kind of a wall would be required to protect 
it from cold space where the thermometer 
ranges 200 degrees below zero? 

Finally, Professor Stewart, to add to the 
confusion caused by his own conflicting 
statements, and the statements of others 
equally confused by their rejection of a su- 
pernatural power, closes this subject by say- 
ing: ''If we could view the universe as a 
candle not lit, then it is perhaps conceivable 
to regard it as having been always in exis- 
tence; but if we regard it rather as a candle 
that has been lit, we become absolutely cer- 
tain that it cannot have been burning from 
eternity, and that the time will come when 



50 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

it will cease to burn. We are led to look to 
a beginning in which the particles of matter 
were in a diffuse, chaotic state, but endowed 
with a power of gravitation, and we are led 
to look to an end in which the v/hole uni- 
verse will be one equally-heated inert mass, 
and from which everything like life or 
motion or beauty will have utterly gone 
away." 

I have made these quotations from a dis- 
tinguished professor to show the hopeless 
condition into which a materialistic philoso- 
phy leads us. We are now prepared to 
take a brighter and a more hopeful view of 
this subject by recognizing that Infinite 
Power which is so strikingly manifested in 
the realms of nature everyw^here as we pro- 
gress from the dark night of chaos, follow- 
ing the footprints which lead us to the 
light and through the light to the realms 
where the mysterious clouds hide the In- 
finite Power from mortal vision and where 
" His ways are past finding out," but we can 
plainly see the working forces in the bound- 
less regions of the universal empire of 
material forms, from the atom to the re- 
volving world. We will now notice 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 5 1 

HOW SUNSHINE IS PRODUCED* 

Some time ago I wrote an article advo- 
cating the theory that the sun was fed and 
its light kept up by electricity. After a 
more careful study of the subject I find it is 
in itself an electric light. It is not to be 
viewed as a lighthouse on the shores of a 
rock-bound coast, shedding its borrowed 
light to guide the mariner in his course, but 
as a central power-house of untold energy, 
to hold and guide revolving worlds in their 
motion around this common center. 

After examining the opinions of different 
writers on solar light and heat, and their 
diverse views on this subject, in connec- 
tion with well-known facts on the subject of 
electricity, I am led to the conclusion that 
the sun is itself the great electric light of 
the solar system, and that this must finally 
be recognized as a fact in science. I am 
the more confident in this from the fact that, 
up to this time, no theory has been offered 
on which astronomers could generally unite. 

In reference to this, Dr. Newcomb, in his 
*' Popular Astronomy" (page 257) says: *'It 
is remarkable that modern science has 
shown us more mysteries in the sun than it 



52 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

has explained, so that we find ourselves 
farther than before from a satisfactory ex- 
planation of solar phenomena/' On page 
287 Dr. Newcomb says: " No theory of the 
solar constitution which is free from some 
objections has yet appeared/' 

Professor Langley says: *The most im- 
portant statement with reference to the sun, 
perhaps, which we can make with certainty 
is even a negative one. It is that we have 
no other than empirical grounds in the pres- 
ent state of knowledge for believing in the 
uniformity of solar radiation in prehistoric 
periods or in the future." 

I will repeat here what I have frequently 
said before, and I will continue to bring 
these things before the public until I get 
the attention of astronomers and they either 
acknowledge the correctness of these views 
or show that I am mistaken. In my quota- 
tions from different authors I plainly show 
that a uniform effort has been made to 
cover the footprints that lead from dark 
chaos to an all-controlling and directing 
Power. 

The theory now generally received by as- 
tronomers is that the solar orb is in a pro- 
cess of shrinking, and in this way it is sup- 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 53 

posed that the light and heat are produced; 
but this is not re^rarded as a fact in science. 
It is a hypothesis of a doubtful character, 
and is received only from a want of some- 
thing more in harmony with scientific facts. 
Now, since electricity has come to the 
front as a great working force in nature, we 
may look at this as the most probable cause 
of solar energy and activity. This giant 
power is governed by certain laws, which we 
can study, and from which we can make cer- 
tain calculations, and thus arrive at scientific 
cgnclusions. The particles of matter con- 
stantly thrown out from the sun, as revealed 
by the telescope, are the result of magnetic 
repulsion. Now, we appeal to facts revealed 
through the telescope, and here we learn 
that an immense amount of matter is con- 
stantly thrown out from the sun, and this is 
regularly returned by the sun's attraction. 
This cannot be accounted for by the shrink- 
ing of the sun, but it can be accounted for 
most clearly by the different electrical con- 
ditions of these particles of matter. By the 
immense magnetism of the sun, they become 
positive, and, consequently, are repelled, as 
a positive repels a positive. When they are 
pushed out from 200,000 to 300,000 miles 



54 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

their positive electric condition is changed to 
a negative condition, and then they are at- 
tracted by the sun, and return with an im- 
mense force, and by this repeated contact 
with the surface of the sun, develop tre- 
mendous currents of electricity. 

How can this immense bombardment be 
reconciled with the shrinking theory or the 
gas-pumping theory of Professor See, pub- 
lished in the May number of McClure's 
Magazine y 1899, which has already been 
mentioned and is here repeated with em- 
phasis to show the folly of such attempts 
to account for the course of nature. 

NO WASTE OF ENERGIES IN ELECTRICAL 
ACTION. 

Here there is no waste of energies, for the 
boundless store of electricity cannot be 
wasted. Here we will find the master key 
that will unlock the mysteries that have sur- 
rounded this subject in the past. 

A distinguished astronomer says: "The 
true explanation is reserved for the science 
which shall reveal the nature of the connec- 
tion which unites heat to electricity, to mag- 
netism, and to the cause of gravity.'* This 
we have in the theory here presented, and 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 55 

the truth that forces itself upon us is that 
the sun itself is an electric light on an 
enormous scale, and this is kept up through 
all the ages by magnetic repulsion and 
attraction of cosmical matter, according to 
electric conditions. 

This bombardment constantly going on 
on the surface of the sun is a scientific fact, 
demonstrated by observation through the 
telescope, and not a theory guessed at, to 
be set aside by another guessing in another 
direction. 

New theories should not be rejected on 
the ground that v/e find nothing in the book 
in harmony with them. If they will stand 
the test of logic without sophistry, and of 
fairly-conducted experiments without jug- 
glery or deception, we should accept them, 
even if we are compelled to abandon old 
theories and number them with the errone- 
ous theories of our ancestors. 

HOW HEAT IS PRODUCED ON OUR EARTH* 

It is the action of the atmosphere which 
causes the heat. It produces a refraction of 
the solar rays and forces them into a smaller 
space, thus resulting in friction. This is not, 
as some have stated, a mere collecting of 



56 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

the heat into a smaller compass, but a pro- 
ducing of heat by a friction of the electric 
rays in their passage through the atmos- 
phere. Our change of temperature on dif- 
ferent days depends on atmospheric condi- 
tions, and the inclination of the earth to or 
from the sun in the different seasons of the 
year. I have allowed the rays from the sun 
to pass through three inches of ice-cold 
water on a cold winter day and caused a 
burning at the focus. A concavo-convex 
lens filled with cold water will cause a 
change of temperature as it is turned toward 
or from the sun. It is evident that heat 
itself could not pass through the cold water, 
but it must be produced by friction at the 
focal point, and this heat is always greater 
or less according to the different degrees of 
refraction by the lens. 

This is a marvelous arrangement by the 
Infinite Power for the support of all living 
things, and especially for that higher de- 
gree of intelligence found in the human 
race. Here the footprints of this Power are 
clearly seen, and we should not seek to de- 
grade ourselves by an effort to prove that 
all these evidences of wisdom and power 
are merely the result of a blind and uncon- 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 57 

scious energy working on nature and has- 
tening to a final destruction, while reason 
and philosophy encourage us to look for a 
higher destiny. 

The bright, shining surface of the sun 
which we see with the naked eye is the pho- 
tosphere, which appears perfectly smooth 
and uniform; but the telescope reveals a 
constant state of disturbance on the surface 
of the sun, and these down-rushings and 
upheavals of electric storms, exceeding by 
a thousand-fold all the cyclones and torna- 
does ever witnessed on this earth, can only 
be accounted for on the theory of electrical 
action. 

The spots seen on the surface of the sun 
through the telescope can be nothing less 
than immense chasms through the photo- 
sphere, caused by these storms. 

A SCIENTIHC CONCLUSION* 

We need only advance along this line, 
step by step, and with facts that cannot be 
denied, and we will finally arrive at conclu- 
sions to which the most advanced science of 
our times can offer no objections. 

Dr. Newcomb says: '*The great question 
in the present state of science is how the 



58 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

supply of heat is maintained against such 
an immense loss by radiation/' 

Well, we may now proclaim that we have 
found the ever-flowing fountain, streaming 
out from every star and every world through- 
out the universal empire — enough to supply 
all demands for millions on millions of years. 

All other theories point to a waste of en- 
ergies that foretell the final doom of nature; 
but electricity can never fail. It has in it 
the elements of perpetual motion. It mani- 
fests a power that is sui generis. It works 
for humanity in thousands of forms, from 
the sewing machine up to the locomotive 
drawing a train of passengers. 

It carries a message of friendly greeting 
to the different nations of the earth and 
passes around the world in a few minutes. 

It submits to the restraints of the human 
mind and will, yet outside of these restraints 
its power is boundless and still under the 
control of a higher law working out the de- 
signs of an infinite mind and will. 

The late Professor Tyndall says: **When 
the history of the dynamical theory of heat 
is written, the man who, in opposition to 
the scientific belief of his times, could ex- 
periment, and reason upon experiment, can- 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 59 

not be lightly passed over/' If I am mis- 
taken, it is proper for some of the wise men 
of our time to correct the error. If I am 
correct, they should give encouraging testi- 
mony to the truth of this theory. 

LESSONS FROM NATURE. 

We look at nature as a universal whole — 
a unity with its elements combined in thou- 
sands of forms, yet every part changeless 
in essential qualities. The difference found 
in the endless variety of forms does not de- 
pend on a change in the qualities of the 
primary elements, but on the different 
proportions of their combination. These 
may exist in gas or vapor, as well as in solid 
forms, and the different properties of con- 
crete substances result from this difference 
in proportions as above stated. Sweet or bit- 
ter, poisonous or nourishing food, agreeable 
or disagreeable odors, all depend on the ar- 
rangement of primal atoms and their differ- 
ent quantities. The mysterious thing we 
call life is sustained by these arrangements, 
made in nature's marvelous chemical labor- 
atory. 

If life resulted from the accidental move- 
ment of matter there would be some ground 



60 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

for the materialistic hypothesis that the 
arrangement for the support of life came in 
the same way. But this would involve us 
in mysteries more profound than to postu- 
late the pre-existence of an infinite mind 
and will by which all things were made and 
arranged. By chemical analysis we become 
acquainted with the nature and certain rela- 
tions of matter, as it exists on our earth, 
while spectroscopic analysis reveals to us 
the nature of the matter existing in those 
distant bodies whence light comes to us 
through boundless space. This teaches the 
universal unity of the elements of matter. 
From this we may infer a similarity in the 
origin and gradual development from gas- 
eous or chaotic form to the highest and 
most valuable metals and minerals known 
to chemistry. 

It is not the method of modern science to 
account for natural phenomena by the 
recognition of a Supreme Power. The be- 
ginner in scientific studies, or the superficial 
observer of nature, may look with contempt 
on supernaturalism, while the advanced 
scientist, having gone to the utmost limit of 
research in the field of nature, stands awe- 
struck with the thought that the mysteries 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 6l 

of nature demand an intelligent cause to 
account for their strange phenomena. Some 
of the most common things in nature are 
involved in mysteries, not only in their 
origin, but also in their present mode of 
operation. Among these we may name 
light and electricity. We see their power 
and importance in nature, but the origin 
and cause of this power remain hidden mys- 
teries to the most advanced science. Here 
large fields are opened to inquiring minds. 
Questions come up that can only be ra- 
tionally answered by the recognition of an 
infinite will and controlling power behind 
nature. This is the only view that is in 
harmony with the teaching of the Bible. It 
is also the only view that corresponds with 
the deepest impression on the minds of all 
intelligent beings in every age and among 
all nations of the human race. 

Whatever erroneous opinions may be en- 
tertained among different nations in refer- 
ence to the nature and extent of this power, 
the longing soul of suffering humanity often 
gropes its way through clouds and darkness 
to find **the unknown God," who has re- 
vealed himself in his word, which teaches 
the immanence as well as the transcendence 



62 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE 

of this all-controlling and all-embracing 
power. When the relations of natural laws 
to the Supreme Power are admitted, then 
the most advanced science will be in har- 
mony with the teachings of theology, and 
our highest reason will demand an intelli- 
gent cause for the existence and harmony 
of the universe. To admit the immanence 
of God in nature and deny his transcend- 
ence leads us in the direction of pantheism. 
To contend for the divine transcendence 
without the immanence leads to the me- 
chanical theory of creation, which is sur- 
rounded with numerous difficulties; but to 
unite the divine immanence with the divine 
transcendence presents to us an ever-pres- 
ent as well as an all-embracing power, work- 
ing out the purposes of an infinite mind and 
will. The matter of the universe must 
always yield to impressed force, and will 
forever remain without praise or blame for 
any change that may be produced upon it. 
The beauty and fragrance of flowers and 
the thorns and thistles stand on the same 
level in reference to the law that con- 
trols their growth, and cannot sustain moral 
relations to a ruling power. They are gov- 
erned by natural and not by moral laws. 



TO THE SUPERNATURAL. 63 

On the other hand, it is utterly impossible 
to govern the spiritual world of intelligent 
and morally responsible beings by natural 
laws and hold them responsible for the con- 
duct, or offer rewards for obedience, or hold 
them accountable for disobedience when 
both are alike impossible to the subjects of 
the government. All ethics, morality, and 
religion postulate a freedom to the human 
will in the formation of character. 

Our happiness must depend on our moral 
relations to this ever present being. This 
brings us face to face with the origin of evil, 
sin and suffering. There are many who re- 
ject all theistic conceptions on the ground 
that they cannot reconcile the suffering con- 
dition of the human race with claims that 
there is an all-wise and all-powerful Ruler in 
the universe who would permit sin and 
suffering to exist in His vast dominions. 
Optimists may paint everything in its most 
glowing colors; yet the fact of suffering 
stares us in the face from all sides, and we 
cannot get away from it. 

We can only account for the sufferings 
and sorrows of our race on the ground of 
moral relations and moral responsibility. If 
we are subjects of a moral government and 



64 FOOTPRINTS THROUGH NATURE. 

held under the dominion of a moral law, 
then, as free moral agents we are liable to 
the penalties of this law, and by violations 
of this law we may bring suffering upon our- 
selves. Civil governments are not to be 
blamed for the sufferings that violators of 
law bring upon themselves. The man who 
finishes a fine, commodious house for people 
to live in, is not held responsible for the 
sufferings the dwellers in the house may 
bring upon themselves by the violation of 
the laws of life and health. This power to 
do what is right or wrong, gives character 
and dignity to man and to a certain extent 
makes him the arbiter of his own destiny. 
This places man in a relation to the highest 
power in the universe, where he becomes re- 
sponsible to the laws that govern morally 
responsible beings, and as such, as subjects 
of disapproval or approval by the divine 
Law Giver. 



JUL 271899 






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